This
page lists and explains the five wars
fought between the United Kingdom and
Iraq. The word "Anglo" refers to England,
once known as "Angle Land," which is part
of the island of Great Britain, which is
the primary part of the United
Kingdom.

1st
Anglo-Iraq War:
May 1920 to Feb. 1921

The
Great Iraqi
Revolution
(known in Iraq as Ath
Thawra al Iraqiyya al
Kubra
and by the British as the
Arab
Revolt of 1920-Rebellion
by Iraqi Arabs against the rule of the
British Mandate. The rebellion was
suppressed by the British military. This
can be considered the First Anglo-Iraqi
War.

The
immediate causes of this conflict arose
out of the results of the British conquest
of the Mesopotamian region from the
Ottoman Turks during World War I.
Following that war, the British
established, with League of Nations
approval, a colonial-style Mandate over
the region now named “Iraq.”
Many Iraqi nationalists, who believed
independence would result from the
ejection of the Turks, were severely
disappointed with the establishment of the
British Mandate. Other, related events and
issues also inflamed Iraqi Arab opinion
against the British. The Mandate
government almost completely excluded
Iraqis, as the British imported
experienced civil servants from India
(also ruled by Britain) to help administer
the country. In northern Iraq, the British
allowed thousands of Christian refugees
escaping persecution in Turkey, to settle
in mostly Muslim Iraq.

2nd
Anglo-Iraq War:
April 18, 1941 toMay 30,
1941

The
Anglo-Iraqi
War of 1941,
also known as the Rashid
Ali Coup,
was a relatively small, but very
significant part of the Second World War.
Since the ending of the British Mandate
and the advent of full Iraqi independence
in 1932, Britain retained a great deal of
military influence in Iraq, despite
lingering opposition from many Arab
nationalists. One of these nationalists,
Rashid Ali, seized power in Baghdad and
refused British requests to allow British
military forces to enter Iraq. Britain at
this time was fighting German and Italian
forces in North Africa and were preparing
to invade Vichy French-held Syria. (The
Vichy French were working with the Germans
and British and Free French forces needed
to secure the region). Believing promises
of German support, Rashid Ali ordered his
forces to attack British bases in western
Iraq and to oppose the landing of British
forces at the southern city of Basra.
German support appeared in the form of a
small number of Luftwaffe fighter planes,
and the British forces quickly defeated
the Iraqi military.

3rd
Anglo-Iraq War:
Aug. 2, 1990 to Feb. 1991

The
Second
Persian Gulf
War
(Also known as “Operation Desert
Storm”)—On August 2,
1990, Iraqi forces invaded and quickly
conquered the small, oil-rich emirate of
Kuwait. Almost immediately, an
international coalition of nations
gathered a powerful military force under
the authority of the United Nations and
the leadership of the United States, first
to defend the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, and secondly, to force Iraq to
withdraw from occupied Kuwait. From the
beginning of the crisis, the United
Kingdom, led by Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher, worked very closely with the
U.S. in assuming a determined posture
against Saddam Hussein's territorial
ambition. Click on the blue link above for
more detail on the war.

4th
Anglo-Iraq War:
1991 to March 19, 2003

The
"No-Fly
Zone War"
pitted the air and naval forces of the
United States and the United Kingdom
against the air defenses of Iraq. This
conflict was a direct result of the
agreements which ended the fighting in
theSecond
Persian Gulf
War
(Also known as “Operation Desert
Storm”). Click on the blue
"No-Fly
Zone War"
link above for more detail on the
war.

5th
Anglo-Iraq War:
March 19, 2003 to 2011

The
Third
Persian Gulf
War
, known as "Operation Telic" by the
British, and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" by
the U.S., ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein from power and led to the
occupation of Iraq by British and American
forces. Click on the blue link above for
more detail on the war.

6th
Anglo-Iraqi War: 2014

The UK
joined with the United States and other
allies in fighting the Jihadist forces of
the Islamic State in Iraq.